Eugene Mirman
Eugene Mirman photo taken by Brian Tamborello for Sub Pop
Birth name	Eugene Boris Mirman
Born	(1974-07-24) July 24, 1974 (age 37) Soviet Union
Medium	Stand-up, television, books, newspaper
Nationality	Russian-American
Years active	1991–present
Genres	Absurdism, observational comedy, satire
Subject(s)	American culture, everyday life, self-deprecation
Notable works and roles	The Weekly Week (producer, 1997–1999) Eugene in Flight of the Conchords Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated Gene Belcher on Bob's Burgers
Website	eugenemirman.com

Mirman in July 2010.

Eugene Boris Mirman^[1][2] (born July 24, 1974) is a Russian-born American comedian, writer, and filmmaker. Mirman currently plays Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated, and voices Gene Belcher for the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.

Early life[link]

Mirman was born in Russia to Jewish parents. His family immigrated to the United States when he was four and a half years old.

Mirman attended William Diamond Middle School and Lexington High School in Lexington, MA, and Hampshire College in Western Massachusetts. He returned to his high school to deliver its 2009 commencement address.^[3] He will return to Hampshire to deliver the 2012 commencement speech as well.

Career[link]

Stand-up career[link]

In 2004, Mirman released The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman, a CD/DVD on Suicide Squeeze Records. The album was voted one of the Best Albums of 2004 by both The A.V. Club and Time Out New York. His second album, En Garde, Society was released by Sub Pop in 2006. Three years later, Mirman released another comedy album titled God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Aspergers which was recorded in Chicago at the Lakeshore Theatre.^[4]

Mirman has appeared at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, Bumbershoot, and South by Southwest. For six years he co-produced the weekly standup-variety show Invite Them Up with Bobby Tisdale and Holly Schlesinger, which won a Nightlife Award. He currently produces Pretty Good Friends (formerly Tearing the Veil of Maya) at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn with Julie Smith, which has been voted the best comedy night in New York City by New York Magazine.

Mirman, much like David Cross and Patton Oswalt, is known to often perform in rock clubs and theaters as opposed to traditional comedy clubs. Often touring the United States, Mirman occasionally opens for the comedy troupe Stella (former members of The State). He has opened for various bands such as The Shins and toured with Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, Gogol Bordello, Andrew Bird, and Cake. Mirman also toured with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford on the Comedians of Comedy tour.

He has toured as an opener for Flight of the Conchords and with Andy Kindler and Marc Maron in Stand Uppity. He plays the character Eugene in the Flight of the Conchords HBO television series.

In January 2010, Mirman performed standup on the John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show on Comedy Central.^[5]

Mirman's Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival has been running since 2008.^[6]

Television career[link]

Mirman has appeared on several TV shows, including Late Night With Conan O'Brien, HBO's Flight of the Conchords, Comedy Central Presents, Delocated,^[7] Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Comedy Central's Premium Blend, VH1, Third Watch, Cartoon Network's Home Movies, Cheap Seats, Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil and more. He also played a spokes-potato on Food Network.

In late 2010, Mirman performed on the Comedy Central show The Benson Interruption.

On February 21, 2011, Mirman appeared on The Colbert Report as a fertility clown.

Mirman currently voices the character Gene Belcher on the Fox animated series Bob's Burgers.^[8]

Radio[link]

He often appears on StarTalk Radio, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson.^[9]

Newspaper[link]

He served as producer for the Boston-area satirical newspaper The Weekly Week from 1997 to 1999.

Books[link]

In January 2009, Mirman released a satirical self-help book entitled The Will to Whatevs.^[10]

Absurdist humor[link]

In addition to his standup work, Mirman has also produced a number of absurdist including a video mimicking 1990s-era anti-marijuana advertisements ^[11] and for his "Sexpert" video in which he gives advice about women.^[12]

Discography[link]

• The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman (2004)
• Invite Them Up (2005)
• En Garde, Society! (2006)
• Comedians of Comedy 3" Tour CD (2006)
• God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Asperger's (2009)

Bibliography[link]

• The Will to Whatevs (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eugene Mirman

• Eugene Mirman official website
• interview on Kittenpants.org
• Interview from May 2008
• Eugene Mirman on MySpace
• Eugene Mirman at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview by Vish Khanna at Exclaim!
• Precious Moments with Eugene on BYT
• Interview with Chief Magazine

Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since its debut on January 9, 2011, the show has broadcast 21 episodes and began airing its second season on March 11, 2012. The series centers on the Belchers, a family consisting of parents Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts); their children Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal), who run a hamburger restaurant.

The concept of Bob's Burgers was conceived by Bouchard after developing Home Movies for UPN. Bob's Burgers was recently renewed for a third season running from 2012–13.^[1]

Bob's Burgers and its cast have been nominated for two Teen Choice Awards, with 1 nomination, and 1 pending result.

Series overview[link]

Episodes[link]

It has been suggested that Bob's Burgers (season 1) and Bob's Burgers (season 2) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

Season 1 (2011)[link]

Season 2 (2012)[link]

Season 3[link]

On May 14, 2012, Fox renewed Bob's Burgers for a third season.^[1] It is expected to premiere in October 2012.^[3] This season the kids get jobs at a pot farm, Mr. Fischoeder buys a mechanical shark that threatens the town's safety and Louise's bunny ears are stolen by a bully.^[26]

Future episodes without scheduled airdate[link]

[edit] Nielsen ratings

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website at Fox.com

Bob's Burgers
220px From left to right: Tina, Gene, Bob, Linda and Louise Belcher
Genre	Sitcom Animation Comedy
Created by	Loren Bouchard
Developed by	Loren Bouchard Jim Dauterive
Voices of	H. Jon Benjamin Dan Mintz Eugene Mirman John Roberts Kristen Schaal
Theme music composer	Loren Bouchard
Opening theme	"Bob's Burgers Theme"
Composer(s)	John Dylan Keith Loren Bouchard
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	22 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Loren Bouchard Jim Dauterive
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	Wilo Productions Buck & Millie Productions Bento Box Entertainment 20th Century Fox Television
Distributor	20th Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	HD: 720p
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run	January 9, 2011 (2011-01-09) – present (present)
Chronology
Related shows	Home Movies
External links
Official website

Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Belchers - parents Bob and Linda, and their children Tina, Gene, and Louise - who run a hamburger restaurant.

The family was conceived by Bouchard after developing Home Movies for UPN.

Since its debut on January 9, 2011, the show has broadcast 22 episodes over two seasons. The first season aired from January 9 to May 22, 2011 and the second season aired from March 11 to May 20, 2012. The second season was originally announced on April 7, 2011. Bob's Burgers holds a TV-PG and TV-14 age rating.

Bob's Burgers has been nominated for 1 Teen Choice Award, and has received mixed to positive reviews from media critics. The season premiere, "Human Flesh", drew in 9.38 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere of the season and also finished 9th in the ratings for the week it aired.^[1][2] The first season received an average of approximately 5 million, and it ranked 59th in ratings share, tied with 60 Minutes, The Middle, and Outsourced.^[3]

On May 14, 2012, Fox renewed Bob's Burgers for a third season.^[4]

Plot[link]

The show centers on the Belcher family, who run a hamburger restaurant. Creator Loren Bouchard said Bob's Burgers came about because Fox's animation brand centers mostly on family, but he also wanted to dabble in workplace comedy.^[5] The show is said to fill the void created by the cancellation of King of the Hill, which Bob's Burgers executive producer Jim Dauterive worked on for nearly its entire run.^[6]

Characters[link]

The Belcher family are a typical family, who run a hamburger restaurant. Bob is the restaurant's owner, and father. Linda is Bob's wife. Tina is the oldest child, who help around Bob's restaurant along with Gene, the only boy, and Louise, the youngest girl.

There are various recurring characters in the series.

Production[link]

Original pilot[link]

The show's initial pilot (developed for 2010 airing) had the same synopsis as the official pilot (aired in 2011) but had both cosmetic and substantial differences. These included:

• Cruder animation
• Character models having longer noses
• Bob wears a white tank top (in the series he wears a white shirt)
• The eldest child is male, and called Daniel
• The intro had slower animation
• In the 2010 pilot Gene drops the hamburger samples when the mourning lady leaves and comes back to kick him onto the ground, in the actual episode, she flips the pan of samples out of his hand.

Test animation[link]

Jay Howell had his art featured in a test animation based on Bob forgetting about his and Linda's wedding anniversary. In this demo Bob uses the word "shit" without it being censored. This is in contrast to the actual show, which has never used an obscene word that needed to be censored by the network.^[7]

The original pilot can be seen on the DVD release of the first season, released on April 17, 2012.

Development[link]

Loren Bouchard created the series

Bob's Burgers first appeared on the development slate at Fox on August 6, 2009.^[8] On December 1, 2009, Fox ordered 13 episodes for the first season.^[9] On May 17, 2010, Fox placed the series on the primetime slate for the 2010–2011 television season.^[10] A special preview aired on Thanksgiving on November 25, 2010.^[11]

Executive producers[link]

Creator Loren Bouchard serves as the executive producer, alongside developer Jim Dauterive. They have served as executive producers since the first season.

Writing[link]

The team of writers includes: Loren Bouchard, Jim Dauterive, Scott Jacobson, Lizzie Molyneux, Wendy Molyneux, Holly Schlesinger, Nora Smith, Steven Davis, Kelvin Yu, Dan Fybel, Rich Rinaldi, and Jon Schroeder.

Voice cast[link]

Bob's Burgers has five main cast members: H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, and Kristen Schaal.^[12] Benjamin voices Bob Belcher, Roberts voices Linda Belcher, Mintz voices Tina Belcher, Mirman voices Gene Belcher, Schaal voices Louise Belcher.^[13]

Main cast members
H. Jon Benjamin	John Roberts	Dan Mintz	Eugene Mirman	Kristen Schaal
Bob Belcher	Linda Belcher	Tina Belcher	Gene Belcher	Louise Belcher

Themes[link]

Bob's Burgers uses the standard setup of a situational comedy, or sitcom, as its premise.

Hallmarks[link]

Opening sequence[link]

As with two other Fox animated series, The Simpsons and American Dad!, the show has a changing element in the show's opening credits; the store (on the other side of Bob's from Mort's funeral home) changes from one episode to the next. However, during the show itself, it is almost always vacant. Additionally, beginning in season two, the company name on the pest control trucks changes episode to episode.

The opening sequence begins with a burger, after which the Belcher family appears, with their restaurant sporting a "Grand Opening" sign in the background. The restaurant is then shown being damaged in a series of incidents (a fire, an encounter with a fallen utility pole), each time returning with a sign announcing the "Grand Re-Opening", "Grand Re-Re-Opening", and so on. Finally, the view zooms in to the restaurant's name, which is the show's logo, then fades into the start of the episode.

Credits sequence[link]

The credits sequence of Bob's Burgers features the Belcher family at work. The scene is the kitchen of Bob's Burgers drawn with a black outline over a white background, with the credits off to the right hand side.

Daily special[link]

Every episode features a "Today's Special" on a chalk board on the wall behind the counter. The name of the special is usually a play on words that indicates what comes on the burger (e.g. "It's Fun to Eat at the rYe M C A Burger": Comes with Rye, Mustard, Cheese, and Avocado).

Humor[link]

This section requires expansion.

Humor on the show ranges from fart jokes to classic movie references to cerebral wit. Different characters are ostensibly meant to appeal to different types of audiences, with Bob's son Gene representing the lowest-brow segment of the show's viewership, and Teddy, the neighborhood contractor, whose character plays on themes of alienation and existential despair. Episode plots revolve around cringe-worthy scenarios à la South Park, while comedic timing tends to resemble that of Family Guy.

The show's writers take a risk in using Bob's internal monologues for humor, as internal monologues on American television are generally used for sentimentality or exposition.

Home media[link]

The first season of the show is available on the iTunes store for download, it was released on DVD on April 17, 2012. The first season is also available for streaming on Netflix.

Reception and achievements[link]

Success[link]

The series has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Metacritic.com gave an aggregate score of 53 out of 100 or "mixed or average reviews" for the pilot episode.^[14] Entertainment Weekly gave the show an A- grade in its review, remarking that "a comedy this well done is very rare indeed."^[15] Ain't It Cool News called Bob's Burgers "perhaps the funniest half-hour currently airing on broadcast TV."^[16] In its review, CNN called the show "wickedly funny" and said there are "too many highlights to list here."^[17] On blogcritics.org, JeromeWetzelTV commented that "[w]hile not preachy, Bob's Burgers is certainly the most wholesome of the Sunday night cartoons. The series is not all about the heart, though. There are plenty of great jokes. For instance, when Gene wins a gold medal in the race, his mother, Linda (John Roberts), wants to have it bronzed. This is just one example of the off-beat brand of humor that Bob's Burgers brings to a night full of the same type of show, setting it apart."^[18] Speaking about the show during its second season, The A.V. Club's Rowan Kaiser said “After an uneven start, Bob’s Burgers is becoming one of television’s best comedies!"^[19] Since the debut of season two of the series, the show's positive reception has increased.

Awards and nominations[link]

Bob's Burgers has been nominated for 1 Teen Choice Award, under the Choice TV: Animated Show category.

Criticism[link]

Bob's Burgers has received a negative treatment from some critics. The Washington Post described the show as "pointlessly vulgar and derivatively dull" while Reuters stated that "It's unwise—and unnecessary—to launch an animated sitcom on Fox that appears intent to ape the vulgarity quotient of Family Guy."^[22][23] USA Today stated that "Bob's Burgers isn't very tasty" describing the comedy as just "lop[ing] along, stumbling from one tasteless moment to the next"^[24] The New York Times described the show as having "a lackadaisical vibe; its humor, no matter how anarchic, slides by in a deadpan monotone."^[25] The Parent Television Council, a media watchdog group, named two of the shows episodes ("Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" and "The Belchies") as the Worst TV Show of the Week.

Ratings[link]

After airing, the show became the highest-rated series premiere of the season and also finished 9th in the ratings for the week it aired.^[26][27] Despite this, the ratings went on a slide with Bill Gorman of TV by the Numbers calling it a "toss up" for renewal before the series was renewed for a second season^[28] which premiered on March 11, 2012.

Broadcast[link]

Episodes[link]

International broadcast[link]

Merchandise[link]

On January 6, 2011, some Fatburger locations were re-branded as Bob's Burgers for the day as a promotion.^[42] It also offered limited-time offers, such as a free burger giveaway, and a special, "The Thanks a Brunch Burger" on the menu until February 2011.^[42] There were also "Bob's Burgers" coupons offered for a free medium FatBurger special.^[42][43] Across the United States, 4 locations were re-branded as Bob's Burgers, in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois.^[42][43]

See also[link]

• List of animated television series from 2000s
• List of programs broadcast by Fox

References[link]